Lou Piniella Turns Down Offer to Manage Seattle Mariners Again
By Paul Novak
(AP Photo/Jeff Zelevansky)
Ask any Mariners fan who the greatest manager in the history of the organization is and you’ll get one resounding response. Sweet Lou Piniella.
After Eric Wedge left the Mariners last week, the organization turned their attention to hiring a new skipper to lead this young club and hopefully turn them into a relevant attraction for Seattle’s baseball fans.
After the Mariners last made an appearance in the postseason, in 2001, the year that Ichiro was voted both Rookie of the Year as well as league MVP, the Mariners have been slowly been heading towards disaster. It’s safe to say that over the past three years the Mariners are about as low as they can go.
That’s when the Mariners front office got the idea to bring in not only a fan favorite, but a legend to turn this ship around. The problem is the Lou Piniella doesn’t want to come back. Piniella is done managing in baseball and is content with working roughly a dozen games for the New York Yankees during the regular season.
"“I talked to them about the job, but that’s it,” Piniella told FOX Sports on Thursday night. “There was nothing else to it. It was just conversation, nothing more.”"
This isn’t an insult by Lou to the Mariners or their fans. It’s just that, well, Lou is already 70-years old and he’s done his time as a full-time manager.
Piniella was with the organization from 1993 to 2002, managing the 2001 team that set an American League record by winning 116 games during the regular season, tying the Chicago Cubs as the only teams to win that many games.
To date, Piniella is the only manager to last over four years in the 37-year history of the organization.
Had “Sweet” Lou come back for one more stint, you can be sure he would have set a record for most ejections in a season having to deal with this club for a 162-game run.
It would have been great to have you back. Enjoy your retirement.